Natural hazards · West Traverse

West Traverse, MI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in West Traverse comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is very low for a U.S. community.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is West Traverse?

Very low

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in West Traverse to be higher than in 6% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding62%Cold waves30%Everything else9%

By hazard

What West Traverse faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

62% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 25% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 6 years in the area

Cold waves

30% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 51% of U.S. places

Recorded about 2 times a year in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingHurricanesTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightning

Not a risk here

DroughtAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does West Traverse flood?

FEMA's records show no paid flood insurance claims in West Traverse.

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. West Traverse isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Emmet County.

Disasters that hit West Traverse

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Emmet County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching West Traverse itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into West TraverseDeclared for Emmet County only

Emmet County has had 5 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often floods and ice storms.

Around West Traverse

West Traverse and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Pleasantviewmostly inland floodingLow

Harbor Springsmostly inland floodingVery low

Little Traversemostly inland floodingVery low

West Traversemostly inland floodingVery low

Friendshipmostly inland floodingVery low

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. West Traverse is smaller than a census tract, so it shares the figures of the tract around its center.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to West Traverse’s own flood-insurance community; household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Township of West Traverse. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.